Written Answers Monday 2 February 2009

Scottish Executive

2014 Commonwealth Games

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-5404 by Linda Fabiani on 8 January 2009, whether it will provide details of the Glasgow 2014 working group at which it has been represented and at which the development of the cultural programme that will accompany the 2014 Commonwealth Games was discussed, including (a) the name of the group, (b) its membership and (c) the dates of any meetings held since November 2007.

Linda Fabiani: To secure a lasting legacy for Scotland as a whole and effective cross government input, the Scottish Government has established the following six legacy groups: Healthier, Wealthier and Fairer, Safer and Stronger, Smarter, Greener and Sport. Cultural interests are specifically represented on the Smarter group whose emphasis is on learning, culture and volunteering.

  The Smarter group met on 30 June 2008, 18 August 2008 and 18 September 2008. The group is chaired by the Scottish Arts Council and the membership includes:

  Learning and Teaching Scotland, VOCAL, Youth Scotland, Culture and Sport Glasgow, Volunteer Development Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, Museums Galleries Scotland, ADES, North Ayrshire Council, Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Scottish Government.

  In addition, the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee, in partnership with Culture and Sport Glasgow, is the lead organisation in terms of the planning and delivery of the 2014 Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games.

  Culture and Sport Glasgow have established the 2014 Creative Group to develop ideas for the content of the 2010 Delhi Flag handover ceremony and the wider cultural programme to accompany the 2014 games. The membership of the group has not yet been finalised, but will include Scottish Government representation.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-5404 by Linda Fabiani on 8 January 2009, whether it will detail the contact it has had with representatives of the Australian state of Victoria, either directly or through the Glasgow 2014 working group, regarding the cultural programme that accompanied the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the legacy derived from it.

Linda Fabiani: During 2008, Scottish Government officials have met with representatives of the Australian State of Victoria on two occasions: with the Governor of the State of Victoria in April 2008, and with the Agent-General for the State Government of Victoria in October 2008. The meetings concentrated on the technical and legacy aspects of successful Games delivery as adopted during the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. In addition, a representative of Culture and Sport Glasgow met with relevant officials in the State of Victoria in relation to the cultural legacy aspects of the games.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19937 on 2 February 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-5404 by Linda Fabiani on 8 January 2009, whether it will provide details of the international examples that it is studying and taking account of, either directly or through the Glasgow 2014 working group, in relation to the preparation of the cultural programme that will accompany the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government and key partners are currently developing the detail of Scotland’s cultural legacy programme. As part of this work, the recently appointed Creative Programmer, based at the Scottish Arts Council, is studying the research and evaluation documents relating to both Olympic and Commonwealth Games in cities including, Sydney, Melbourne and Barcelona.

Alcohol Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of offences was linked to alcohol misuse in 2007-08, broken down by category of offence.

Kenny MacAskill: Data available for crimes/offences related to alcohol is where the involvement of alcohol is implicit in the offence, such as drunkenness, drunk driving etc, contravention of liquor licensing laws, offences by licensed persons and consumption of alcohol in designated places prohibited by byelaws. The following table gives the number of offences linked to alcohol misuse in 2007-08.

  Offences of Drunkenness/Drink Driving Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2007-08

  

 Offence
 Total Scotland


 Drunkenness:
 


 Drunk and incapable and habitual drunkenness
 5,506


 Drunk in charge of a child
 104


 Drunk and attempting to enter licensed premises
 156


 Drunk or drinking in unlicensed premises
 60


 Disorderly on licensed premises
 545


 Drunk in or attempting to enter designated sports ground
 331


 Drunk Driving etc:
 


 Driving motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs
 651


 In charge of motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs
 107


 Driving motor vehicle with blood alcohol content above prescribed limit
 7,177


 In charge of motor vehicle while blood alcohol content above limit
 640


 Failure to provide breath specimen at roadside
 931


 Failure to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at police station
 1,191


 Total
 17,399



  The proportion of all offences in Scotland in 2007-08 that relate to drunkenness/drunk driving was 3 per cent, given that there were a total of 571,881 offences.

  The table may include some offences relating to drug, not alcohol, misuse. It does not include any offences by licensed persons or offences against liquor licensing laws.

Breastfeeding

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the breastfeeding rates were in maternity wards or units dedicated to women suffering from substance misuse in the last year during which such wards or units existed.

Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available as maternity ward or unit level information cannot be identified from national data collected on breastfeeding rates.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the conclusions of the research carried out by NHS Scotland into the reasons for non-uptake of cervical cancer screening.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. The research is expected in March 2009 and will be published on the NHS Health Scotland website later this year.

  The National Advisory Group on Breast and Cervical Screening will consider the findings, before providing advice on potential interventions to improve uptake.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing the cultural site at Granton.

Linda Fabiani: The process of site purchase has been completed subject to development conditions, and options are being considered for development of the site.

Direct Payments

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people received direct payments in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008, broken down by local authority.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people receive direct payments for their care in each local authority area.

Shona Robison: The information requested is in the following table:

  Number of Clients Receiving Self-Directed Support (Direct Payment) Packages by Local Authority, 2007 and 2008

  

 
 Number of Clients


 2007
 2008


 Aberdeen City
 101
 113


 Aberdeenshire
 101
 132


 Angus
 40
 47


 Argyll and Bute
 89
 104


 Clackmannanshire
 32
 22


 Dumfries and Galloway
 141
 163


 Dundee City
 38
 44


 East Ayrshire
 51
 64


 East Dunbartonshire
 23
 36


 East Lothian
 31
 46


 East Renfrewshire
 15
 37


 Edinburgh
 209
 273


 Eilean Siar
 8
 11


 Falkirk
 61
 52


 Fife
 309
 334


 Glasgow
 193
 208


 Highland
 225
 176


 Inverclyde
 9
 16


 Midlothian
 29
 33


 Moray
 43
 46


 North Ayrshire
 47
 48


 North Lanarkshire
 37
 43


 Orkney
 45
 30


 Perth and Kinross
 40
 67


 Renfrewshire
 32
 45


 Scottish Borders
 117
 142


 Shetland Islands
 11
 12


 South Ayrshire
 39
 39


 South Lanarkshire
 46
 58


 Stirling
 37
 59


 West Dunbartonshire
 31
 41


 West Lothian
 61
 64


 Scotland
 2,291
 2,605



  The information above is drawn from table 1 of the publication Self-directed Support (Direct Payments), Scotland, 2008, see following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/27092036/0.

Direct Payments

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on direct payments in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008, broken down by local authority.

Shona Robison: The information requested is in the following table:

  Value of Self-Directed Support (Direct Payment) Packages by Local Authority, 2007 and 2008

  

 
 Value of Direct Payments (£000)


 2007
 2008


 Aberdeen City
 878
 1,031


 Aberdeenshire
 714
 1,693


 Angus
 619
 697


 Argyll and Bute
 1,326
 1,458


 Clackmannanshire
 203
 177


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1,380
 1,590


 Dundee City
 408
 466


 East Ayrshire
 568
 752


 East Dunbartonshire
 302
 394


 East Lothian
 750
 812


 East Renfrewshire
 158
 352


 Edinburgh
 3,652
 4,386


 Eilean Siar
 22
 21


 Falkirk
 487
 570


 Fife
 2,799
 3,277


 Glasgow
 2,290
 3,148


 Highland
 1,539
 1,383


 Inverclyde
 40
 107


 Midlothian
 577
 489


 Moray
 658
 594


 North Ayrshire
 477
 581


 North Lanarkshire
 431
 753


 Orkney
 185
 135


 Perth and Kinross
 497
 702


 Renfrewshire
 270
 498


 Scottish Borders
 1,051
 915


 Shetland Islands
 172
 136


 South Ayrshire
 487
 547


 South Lanarkshire
 357
 488


 Stirling
 295
 320


 West Dunbartonshire
 296
 417


 West Lothian
 367
 497


 Scotland
 24,255
 29,383



  The information above is drawn from Table 3 of the publication Self-directed Support (Direct Payments), Scotland, 2008, see following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/10/27092036/0.

Employment

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent report in the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press , what support, training and advice will be offered to Stena Line employees in Stranraer facing redundancy.

Fiona Hyslop: The local PACE response team has already offered support to Stena Line employees in Stranraer who may be facing redundancy.

  The type of support will be tailored to meet individual needs and circumstances but will include: access to a new national helpline and improved website; Jobcentre Plus services; one-to-one counselling; comprehensive information packs; access to high quality training; seminars on skills such as CV writing and starting up a business, and access to IT facilities.

  In light of the current economic climate, we have recently introduced a number of enhancements to the existing Partnership Action for Continuing Employment "PACE" initiative, including dedicating 80 Skills Development Scotland staff to deliver improved support to individuals facing redundancy.

Employment

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent report in the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press , whether it will form a task force to assist Stena Line employees in Stranraer facing redundancy.

Fiona Hyslop: Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) is the Scottish Government’s strategic framework for responding to employees facing redundancy. On 11 January and 26 January the Scottish Government announced a range of measures to strengthen PACE which will enhance the support offered to people facing redundancy.

  The local PACE response team in Stranraer has already offered support to Stena Line employees and this will be tailored to meet individual needs and circumstances.

Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers single outcome agreements to be qualifying plans, programmes or strategies for the purposes of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 and, if not, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Michael Russell: It is for each Responsible Authority within Scotland to establish whether the public plans or programmes it is responsible for producing, fall within the scope of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005.

Forestry Commission

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of the proposal to lease out 25% of the most commercially-viable, publicly-owned Scottish forests for up to 75 years on Forestry Commission Scotland’s staffing numbers in Edinburgh.

Michael Russell: The consultation has just concluded and the responses are being carefully considered. However, we have already stated that there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of any leasing arrangement arising from the consultation exercise and wider options review.

Forestry Commission

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps Forestry Commission Scotland has been able to take to assist sawmills to meet the challenges of the credit crunch when demand for their products has been falling.

Michael Russell: On 28 November, we announced a package of measures, developed in consultation with the timber processing sector, to help the Scottish forestry industry face the current economic downturn including:

  Continuing where ever possible to operate normal contract and credit arrangements;

  Offering reasonable extensions to existing contracts;

  Enabling customers to work high priced contracts alongside more recently purchased lower priced contracts in order to reduce their impact on cashflow;

  Negotiating changes to payment profiles in exceptional circumstances;

  Continuing to offer sales plan volumes to the market to ensure continuity of supply and retention of skills;

  Setting sale reserves based on a realistic view of the market, and

  Ensuring that harvesting contractors and hauliers are paid promptly.

  We are also keeping the present difficult circumstances under constant review and remain committed to further action as necessary.

Forestry Commission

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Forestry Commission Scotland considers it to be part of its responsibility to assist consumers of its raw materials to meet challenges arising from, and to survive, the credit crunch.

Michael Russell: The Forestry Commission has no statutory responsibility to assist its customers to meet the challenges arising from the economic downturn but will always try to help if possible. For example, on 28 November a package of measures was announced to help the Scottish forestry industry face the current economic downturn including:

  Continuing where ever possible to operate normal contract and credit arrangements;

  Offering reasonable extensions to existing contracts;

  Enabling customers to work high priced contracts alongside more recently purchased lower priced contracts in order to reduce their impact on cash flow;

  Negotiating changes to payment profiles in exceptional circumstances;

  Continuing to offer sales plan volumes to the market to ensure continuity of supply and retention of skills;

  Setting sale reserves based on a realistic view of the market, and

  Ensuring that harvesting contractors and hauliers are paid promptly.

  We are also keeping the present difficult circumstances under constant review and remain committed to further action as necessary.

Forestry Commission

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event of an employee of Forestry Commission Scotland not taking up an offer of job transfer under the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE) under the proposed plans to lease up to one quarter of the most commercially-viable, publicly-owned forests, whether that employee will be deemed to have resigned from their post.

Michael Russell: The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations do not provide for an offer of job transfer – employees are transferred automatically under the regulations. However, Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) would ensure that it made every effort to find an alternative role for any employee who did not wish to transfer.

Forestry Commission

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event of an employee of Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) not taking up an offer of job transfer under the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE) under the proposed plans to lease up to one quarter of the most commercially-viable, publicly-owned forests and wishing to remain an FCS employee, whether that employee would be offered an alternative position in FCS or offered voluntary redundancy.

Michael Russell: If any employee expressed a preference to remain with Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), rather than transfer under the TUPE regulations, FCS would make every effort to find the employee an alternative role.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Medicines Consortium will follow the risk-share process in appraising new medicines, as accepted by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is aware of proposals for patient access schemes in England which are also sometimes referred to as market access or risk share schemes. The Scottish Government has asked the Scottish Medicines Consortium to examine the benefits and practicalities of these schemes within the Scottish context and a report will be available in due course.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18514 by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 December 2008, how many of the prescribed items for antibiotics were for hospitals only, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) hospital in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of prescribed items for antibiotics prescribed by secondary care units and dispensed by community pharmacists is given in the table Antibacterial Items by secondary care unit 2005-06 to 2007-08 a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47475).

  The data in the table refers to antibacterial items prescribed by secondary care units and dispensed by community pharmacists. It does not include the direct supply of medicines to patients from hospitals or hospital-based clinics.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage of patient uptake is of the national bowel screening programme.

Nicola Sturgeon: Data on uptake is currently not available, as the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme is not yet rolled out across all NHS health boards.

  Data on the Scottish Bowel Screening Pilot was published in August 2008 via the Information Services Division (ISD) website on www.isdscotland.org/isd/5728.html.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths at the (a) Western Infirmary in Glasgow and (b) Gartnavel General Hospital were directly attributed to Clostridium difficile in 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that there were eight deaths at the Western Infirmary and 18 deaths at Gartnavel General hospital between January and December 2008 which were directly attributed to Clostridium difficile. It should be noted that these are provisional data only.

  Official data on the number of Clostridium difficile related deaths, by NHS board and by hospital, is published by the General Register for Scotland (GROS) on an annual basis. I am advised that data for 2008 is not yet available but will be published by GROS in August 2009.

  The national HAI (healthcare associated infection) reporting template recently introduced now requires NHS boards to collect real time data on infection rates by hospital and specialty. These templates will be published on NHS board websites, and from autumn 2009 the data they record will be extended to include information on HAI related deaths.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths at the (a) Western Infirmary in Glasgow and (b) Gartnavel General Hospital had Clostridium difficile as a contributory factor in 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that there were six deaths at the Western Infirmary and six deaths at the Gartnavel General hospital between January and December 2008 where Clostridium difficile was a contributory factor in the deaths.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19956 on 2 February 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions death certificates issued by the (a) Western Infirmary in Glasgow and (b) Gartnavel General Hospital have been changed to show Clostridium difficile as a contributory factor in 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: GROS advise that to date no death certificates registered by GROS in 2008 for the hospitals concerned were amended in 2008 to show clostridium difficile as a contributory factor.

Healthy Living

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much support it anticipates offering to healthy living centres in 2009-10.

Shona Robison: Discussions are currently on-going regarding how much support will be offered during 2009-10.

  Further decisions will need to be determined once budget positions for 2009-10 have been resolved.

Historical Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-19114 and S3W-8632 by Linda Fabiani on 7 January 2009 and 31 January 2008 respectively, when it began to examine the scope to rationalise and streamline the activities of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, Historic Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland and when it expects to conclude this exercise.

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19114 by Linda Fabiani on 7 January 2009, how often it has met representatives of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, Historic Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland as part of its examination of the scope to rationalise and streamline the activities of these organisations.

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19114 by Linda Fabiani on 7 January 2009, when it expects to report on the outcome of its examination into the scope to rationalise and streamline the activities of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, Historic Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland.

Linda Fabiani: The First Minister announced the examination of the scope to rationalise historic archival, recording and scheduling functions and for streamlining the activities of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Historic Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland in January 2008. Consideration is on-going with the three organisations involved, all of which have regular contact with core government officials and the minister.

Historical Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what external advice it has taken on the best way to deliver the services currently provided by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments.

Linda Fabiani: No external consultants have been involved in the assessment of options.

Historical Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a public consultation exercise before coming to a definitive view on the future of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments.

Linda Fabiani: The government has received a number of letters from stakeholders and these views have been taken into account in assessing the options for simplification. We continue to welcome the views of stakeholders who submit these in correspondence.

Historical Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its budget allocation will be to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in each of the next three years.

Linda Fabiani: The budget allocation for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland is £4,553,000 in 2009-10 and £4,445,000 in 2010-11. No budget has yet been agreed for 2011-12 as this falls into the next spending review period.

Historical Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments will retain its charitable status following any rationalisation.

Linda Fabiani: Charitable status for any organisation is dependent on eligibility as assessed by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

Justice

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is normal practice for an individual who is subject to an extradition order to be held on remand during consideration of their extradition.

Kenny MacAskill: All crimes and offences are bailable including those offences which come under the Extradition Act 2003. Decisions on bail are however matters for the court and will therefore be taken after giving full consideration to all the relevant factors, including the likelihood of the subject absconding.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional community sentences are planned for as a result of its proposals on short-term prison sentences as outlined in Protecting Scotland’s Communities: Fair, Fast and Flexible Justice .

Kenny MacAskill: Our estimates on the number of additional community sentences which might result from the proposals contained in Protecting Scotland’s Communities: Fair, Fast and Flexible Justice , will be published in the Financial Memorandum accompanying the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill due to be introduced in Parliament soon.

  Sentencing decisions are, and will remain, the responsibility of our judges, who are best placed to decide, given the circumstances of each case, what the most appropriate sentence may be. There is nothing in our plans that will change that.

Livestock

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects details on the arrangements for obtaining a bull from the Crofters Commission in 2009 to be made available.

Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19878 on 30 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/default.aspx .

Marine Environment

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the publication of sea lice data in Norway on the Lusedata website, when it will publish similar data.

Michael Russell: The Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act came into force in August 2007. The act allows inspection of fin fish farms to assess whether satisfactory measures are in place to control parasites (sea lice) and to contain farmed fish and prevent escapes. Necessary secondary legislation, the Fish Farming Businesses (Record Keeping) (Scotland) Order was laid at Scottish Parliament in October 2008 and came into force on 10 November 2008. Risk-based inspections and audits, conducted by Fisheries Research Services (FRS), commenced in late November to establish whether satisfactory measures are in place to contain fish, prevent escapes and control sea lice. This new regime is in its infancy and needs time to become established. We have no plans to publish fish-farm specific sea lice data.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when a national deaf mental health service will be in place.

Shona Robison: Mental health services for those with sensory loss are developing and improving. A new dedicated community service and a deaf counselling service are now operational in Lothian. National access to specialist in-patient services when needed is provided by the John Denmark Unit in Manchester.

  We are looking to improve on current arrangements and are considering the merits of a Scotland-based in-patient facility. We are also considering how to improve regional specialist community services with the three regional planning partnerships.

Ministerial Meetings

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any meetings between Scottish ministers, accompanied by civil servants other than ministerial private secretaries, and representatives of the Scottish Green Party to discuss policy matters since May 2007, also showing the (a) dates of the meetings, (b) topics discussed and (c) departments represented.

Bruce Crawford: The following table lists any meetings between Scottish ministers and the Scottish Green Party to discuss policy matters since May 2007.

  

 Minister
 Date of Meeting
 Topic Discussed


 First Minister 
 13-12-07
 Higher Education


 Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture
 04-12-08
 Traditional Arts


 Minister for Parliamentary Business 
 18-06-08
 Scottish Government’s Draft Legislative Programme


 Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth 
18-12-08
  01-10-08
  19-03- 08
  30-01- 08
  29-01- 08
  28-01-08
  21-01-08
  17-01-08
  06-11-07
  16-10-07
  20-09-07
 All meetings related to the Budget


 Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
 18-12-08
 Homecoming Party Leader Launch


 Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing 
 26-11-08
 Investigation of c diff deaths at the Vale of Leven hospital


 Minister for Public Health 
 18-09-08
 Cross Party Group on Sexual Health


 Minister for Communities and Sport 
 26-11-08
 Violence against Women 16 days of action


 Minister for Schools and Skills 
 25-06-08
 Access to Outdoor Education & Education in the Outdoors


 Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment 
06-09-07
  11-11-08
Incineration of animal carcasses
Launch of Comrie Insulation project


 Minister for Environment 
 26-03-08
 Greener Scotland Communication


 Cabinet Secretary for Justice
13-06-07
  16-10-07
Meeting title unknown
Hate Crime Bill 


 Minister for Community Safety 
24-1-08
  17-04-08
  23-04-08
Drugs Strategy
No2 ID
Drugs Strategy

NHS Hospitals

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what quality assurance measures are in place to ensure that no patient information is deleted from accident and emergency unit monitoring screens prior to being seen and treated.

Nicola Sturgeon: In relation to the Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) only EDIS administrators are able to delete information. EDIS administrators are normally senior clinicians or senior members of staff or members of the IT department and there would be an audit trail if any information was deleted.

NHS Services

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used by the NHS when issuing taxi contracts.

Nicola Sturgeon: The criteria used, including those covering access for the disabled, are determined by each NHS board individually taking account of the vehicle types operating in their areas and are detailed in the tender specification for each contract.

NHS Services

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS is required to ensure that the vehicles used under its taxi contracts are accessible to disabled people.

Nicola Sturgeon: There is no legal requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for taxis to be accessible to people with disabilities including wheelchair users. NHS boards can however stipulate their own requirements in their tender specifications.

NHS Services

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vehicles covered by the patient transport contract are equipped to transport disabled people for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Nicola Sturgeon: Under NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s current patient transport contracts there are 976 vehicles equipped to transport disabled people in the Glasgow area, with a further 23 vehicles so equipped in the Clyde area.

NHS Staff

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it took in the accountability review of NHS Dumfries and Galloway to ensure that it achieved the recommended minimum ratio of supervisors of midwives to midwives of one to 15.

Nicola Sturgeon: This issue was not specifically discussed at the annual review meeting on 23 June. However, I expect NHS Dumfries and Galloway to ensure that they meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council minimum standard of one supervisor to 15 midwives.

  All NHS boards, including NHS Dumfries and Galloway, are putting in place plans to increase the number of supervisors in order to meet the required standards.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional remuneration and dedicated resources it would recommend as incentives for midwives to become supervisors.

Shona Robison: Under current nationally agreed terms and conditions, an allowance of £500 per annum is available for supervisory midwives in recognition of the statutory regulatory duties they perform. The provision of any additional resources is a matter for NHS boards.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many supervisors of midwives will reach retiring age in each of the next five years.

Shona Robison: Specific information about the numbers of supervisors of midwives about to retire is not held centrally. However, we expect Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officers to succession plan to ensure the appropriate number of supervisors are in place if, and when, staff choose to retire. We are also committed to maximising the skills and expertise of all staff in NHS Scotland, including those in the ageing workforce. We are currently jointly funding with NHS Education for Scotland and the South East (NHS) Education Forum, research on the ageing workforce to determine what NHS Scotland can do to recruit and retain those in this section of the workforce.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the rising birth rate and the increased workload resulting from a renewed focus on pregnant women with substance misuse problems is matched by increased numbers of midwives.

Shona Robison: It is for NHS boards to determine the staff required in their local areas. However, we expect NHS boards to take account of local population needs and changes in service provision to ensure a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approach to the provision of care for this vulnerable group of women.

  The Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning Programme has been assisting NHS boards to support the implementation of Birthrate Plus and Professional Judgement tools. Following a review of this process a new tool for Maternity Services in Scotland will be developed, taking account of the experience gained from Birthrate Plus and Professional Judgement tools, and taking into account the Midwifery 2020 Programme which NHS Scotland is leading on behalf of the UK.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of each of the 19 investigations undertaken by supervisors of midwives or the local midwives supervising authority in 2007-08 and what the method was for reporting each of the outcomes.

Shona Robison: Notification of the outcomes of supervisory investigations is provided in the same way in all Local Supervising Authority regions within Scotland. The Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officer (LSAMO), midwives involved in the investigation and their named Supervisor of Midwives will be informed in writing of the outcome. The Head of Midwifery in the relevant NHS board will also be informed if a midwife requires developmental or supervised practice. Issues relating to system failures highlighted during the investigation will be discussed by the LSAMO and the Head of Midwifery.

  The outcomes of the investigations carried out in 2007-08 are set out in the following table.

  

 No issues identified
 4


 No further action
 4


 Developmental support or supervised practice required 
 13


 Referred to NMC
 2


 Suspended
 1


 Contract terminated
 2

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time-equivalent midwives there are and what the ratio of midwives is to the number of births, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) community health partnership.

Shona Robison: Table 1 shows, by NHS board, the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) midwives, the number of births in Scottish hospitals, and the ratio of births to midwives. Latest available complete information for births in Scottish hospitals is for year ending 31 March 2007 and, for comparison purposes, midwife numbers at 30 September 2007 have been used. Information on births is based on hospital of treatment (rather than residence) to allow comparison with the workforce figures which capture where staff are based.

  Centrally held workforce information captures the NHS board where staff are employed but does not allow a breakdown by Community Health Partnership.

  Table 1: Ratio of Midwives (Whole-Time Equivalent) to Births1,2 for 20073 by NHS Board

  

 
 BirthsP
 Midwives
 Ratio


 Scotland
 55,389 
 2,796.9
 19.8 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran
 3,752 
 267.5 
 14.0 


 NHS Borders
 1,111 
 57.4 
 19.4 


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway
 1,448 
 123.4 
 11.7 


 NHS Fife
 3,532 
 165.3 
 21.4 


 NHS Forth Valley
 3,226 
 173.5 
 18.6 


 NHS Grampian
 5,986 
 340.8 
 17.6 


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 15,234 
 677.3 
 22.5 


 NHS Highland
 2,273 
 178.5 
 12.7 


 NHS Lanarkshire
 4,917 
 226.8 
 21.7 


 NHS Lothian
 8,964 
 301.5 
 29.7 


 NHS Orkney
 140 
 13.1 
 10.7 


 NHS Shetland
 163 
 13.3 
 12.3 


 NHS Tayside
 4,383 
 238.6 
 18.4 


 NHS Western Isles
 243 
 19.8 
 12.3 



  Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS) - Midwives.

  SMR02 - Births.

  PProvisional data.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes home births and births at non-NHS hospitals.

  2. Where four or more babies are involved in a pregnancy, birth details are recorded only for the first three babies delivered.

  3. The latest available data for births is at 31 March 2007. The ratio of midwives to births was calculated using Midwifery data as at 30 September 2007.

  4. NHS Health board of treatment is used for birth data.

  Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the "Background" section of the Workforce Statistics website at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS boards are failing to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council minimum standard ratio of one supervisor to 15 midwives and, if so, which ones.

Nicola Sturgeon: Seven NHS boards in Scotland do not meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council requirement. They are: NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire.

  All potential supervisors of midwives must successfully complete a supervisor of midwives course and these boards are putting in place plans to increase the number of supervisors in order to meet the required standards.

Prescription Charges

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals from households below the poverty line have benefited from the extension of the free prescription scheme.

Shona Robison: We estimate that around 256,000 individuals living in relative poverty before housing costs will benefit from the reduction in prescription charges when they buy prescriptions. We do not know how many have benefited since the charge was reduced on 1 April 2008, as the annual income of people paying NHS prescription charges is not collected.

  The Scottish Government’s commitment to abolish prescription charges in April 2011 will benefit everyone who pays for prescriptions.

Prison Service

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners represents those assessed as having an alcohol problem at point of admission in 2007-08, broken down by prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners are not assessed at the point of admission.

  Following admission into custody, an Integrated Case Management (ICM) process is initiated within the first 72 hours of custody. Each prisoner in custody for more than seven days undertakes a core screening which determines the need for referral to specialist services, including substance misuse services (available to prisoners in custody for 31 days or more). The following table provides information relating to admission to local prisons and assessments undertaken.

  

Local PrisonEstablishment
 Admissions 2007-08
 No of Alcohol ICM Assessments Completed 01-04-07 to 31-03-08
 % of Admissions completed ICM Substance Misuse Assessment for Alcohol


 Aberdeen
 1,413
 39
 3


 Barlinnie
 7,434
 241
 3


 Cornton Vale
 2,097
 60
 3


 Dumfries
 649
 69
 11


 Edinburgh
 3,161
 82
 3


 Greenock
 1,858
 110
 6


 Inverness
 1,307
 81
 6


 Perth
 3,140
 61
 2


 Polmont
 1,865
 332
 18


 Total
 22,924
 1,075
 5

Prison Service

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners represents those assessed as having a substance misuse problem at point of admission in 2007-08, broken down by prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners are not assessed at the point of admission.

  Following admission into custody, an Integrated Case Management (ICM) process is initiated within the first 72 hours of custody. Each prisoner in custody for more than seven days undertakes a core screening which determines the need for referral to specialist services, including substance misuse services (available to prisoners in custody for 31 days or more). The following table provides information relating to admission to local prisons and assessments undertaken.

  

LocalPrisonEstablishment
 Admissions 2007-08
 No of ICM Substance Misuse Assessments COMPLETED 01-04-07 to 31-03-08
 % of Admissions completed ICM Substance Misuse Assessment


 Aberdeen
 1,413
 219
 15


 Barlinnie
 7,434
 887
 12


 Cornton Vale
 2,097
 485
 23


 Dumfries
 649
 187
 29


 Edinburgh
 3,161
 411
 13


 Greenock
 1,858
 365
 20


 Inverness
 1,307
 157
 12


 Perth
 3,140
 390
 12


 Polmont
 1,865
 659
 35


 Total
 22,924
 3,760
 16

Prison Service

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners it estimates to (a) have or (b) have had a substance misuse problem.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Sixty-four percent of prisoners tested positive for illegal drugs on entry into prison during 2007-08 addiction prevalence testing. 49% of the prisoner population has a problem with alcohol, as indicated by the number of prisoners who responded to the 2008 prisoner survey to say that they were drunk at the time of their offence. In the same survey 79% of prisoners indicate they smoke tobacco.

Sexual Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of awarding the contract for the National Sexual Health (NaSH) system to AxSys Technology Ltd and the cost of any on-going related data services provided.

Shona Robison: The costs of awarding the contract for the National Sexual Health System (NaSH) to AxSys Technology Ltd are set out in the following table:

  

 Development and Implementation
£557,000 ex VAT


 Annual Support Charge
£100,260 ex VAT

Sexual Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the NHS boards in which the National Sexual Health (NaSH) system is in operation and when it expects the remaining boards to begin operating the system.

Shona Robison: The NHS boards currently using the National Sexual Health (NaSH) system are:

  Ayrshire and Arran

  Borders

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Greater Glasgow and Clyde

  Lanarkshire

  Lothian.

  Tayside and Grampian NHS Boards will be live by the end of March 2009 and all remaining boards will implement NaSH by December 2009 when the Implementation Programme is scheduled to finish.

Single Outcome Agreements

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration of the environmental effects of achieving local outcomes was required when developing single outcome agreements.

Michael Russell: The single outcome agreements (SOA) reflected the strategic priorities agreed by the local authority in its area while taking account of the local context. Therefore it was for each local authority to determine its own local outcomes and, in doing so, to take account of any relevant environmental effects.

Single Outcome Agreements

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any strategic environmental assessments of single outcome agreements have been carried out and, if so, of which agreements.

Michael Russell: We have no record of any Strategic Environmental Assessments having been carried out for Single Outcome Agreements to date. However, North Ayrshire Council did submit a screening request to the Consultation Authorities, which may be viewed as the first step towards possible assessment.

Student Finance

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from households below the poverty line are benefiting from the abolition of the graduate endowment scheme.

Fiona Hyslop: A household is in poverty according to the UK and Scottish Governments’ preferred poverty definition if its household income is below 60% of the median UK household income before housing costs. The household income used in this definition is adjusted to take into account of household size. There are, therefore, different "poverty lines" for households of different sizes.

  Income data held by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland does not include income from all members of the household and is not adjusted to account of household size. It is therefore not possible to determine if a student comes from a household which is in poverty according to this definition.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13234 on 2 June 2008, which gives an estimate of the number of students with benefactor incomes below £16,000 who may benefit from the abolition of the graduate endowment.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Transport Scotland

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what overseas visits have been undertaken by directors of Transport Scotland since May 2007 and at what cost.

The Executive has supplied the following corrected answer:

Stewart Stevenson: The following table shows the overseas visits taken by Directors of Transport Scotland since May 2007 and their respective costs:

  

 Director
 Destination
 Cost


 Jim Barton
 Paris
£275.23


 Jim Barton
 New Zealand
£0.00


 Jim Barton
 Helsinki
£454.33


 Jim Barton
 Marrakesh
£253.43


 Ainslie McLaughlin
 Paris
£213.14


 Ainslie McLaughlin
 Madrid
£352.27


 Guy Houston
 Barcelona
£410.36


 Bill Reeve
 Munich
£113.87


 Bill Reeve
 Brussels
£340.86


 Frances Duffy
 Paris
£233.14


 Frances Duffy
 Leiden, Netherlands
£277.56


 Frances Duffy
 Amsterdam
£509.93

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Energy Efficiency

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide information on its position in respect of compliance with the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2002/91/EC).

Alex Johnstone: In accordance with the Directive, an assessment of the energy performance of the Parliament building has been completed. An energy rating of B has been calculated and is displayed on a certificate in the main hall. The certificate states that a building of this type built to current building regulations standards would have a rating of B. The SPCB is pleased that, although the Parliament was designed and built prior to the introduction of the 2007 Building Regulations, the energy performance of the building has been assessed as achieving current good practice. This clearly demonstrates the efforts which were made to design and construct an energy-efficient building.